Talks between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo failed Tuesday after a new meeting under the auspices of the European Union in Brussels, but they agreed to continue talks, as announced by European representative Miroslav Lajcak.
"It was Albin Kurti´s first meeting as Prime Minister of Kosovo. It wasn´t easy, but it´s important that it took place."
"The two leaders had very open and frank talks about what they expect from the dialogue, and the process will continue," he added.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic gave a less optimistic account of the meeting.
"We didn´t agree on anything at all," he said. The man (Kurti) came to me asking when will you recognize an independent Kosovo? I told him ´We will never confess´ and he exploded in anger."
"I´ve never attended this kind of meeting in my life," he added. There is a complete lack of sense of responsibility.”
"I am very afraid because I now realize the degree of irresponsibility that we will have to face in the future. But we will continue the dialogue."
One of the participants confirmed to AFP that the meeting was "very tough", adding, "The fact that they agreed to continue the process is positive in itself."
For his part, the new Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, expressed his regret at the rejection of his proposals by the Serbian president. "The meeting was constructive on our part," he told Kosovo media. We will take part in this difficult process.”
Relations between the two neighbors in the Balkans remain complicated, more than twenty years after their separation as a result of the war.
The European Union and the United States have been putting pressure on both sides to resume talks since the change of administration in Kosovo.
But the dialogue, which has been underway for a decade under the auspices of the European Union, is stagnant. The aim of the talks is to normalize relations after a conflict that left 13,000 people dead, most of them Albanians.
Belgrade refuses to recognize the independence of its former province, which was declared in 2008, nearly a decade after the war, which ended when NATO bombing forced Serb forces to withdraw.
More than 100 countries have recognized the independence of Kosovo, most of them in the West, but not Russia or China.
Talks between the leaders of Serbia and Kosovo fail and a new meeting is expected
